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Older adults, and particularly women, are indeed working longer than in previous decades, according to federal statistics that highlight the need for work that matters in the second half of life.

According to the new report, “Older Americans 2008: Key Indicators of Well-Being,” more older Americans are continuing to work past age 55.

In particular, women’s participation in the labor force has steadily risen over the past four decades. Among women age 55 to 61, nearly 64 percent worked outside the home in 2006, up from 44 percent in 1963.

The report explains, “Many women now in their 60s and 70s did not work outside the home when they were younger, or they moved in and out of the labor force. As new cohorts of women approach older ages, they are participating in the labor force at higher rates than previous generations.”

For men, the report notes a reversal in the trend toward declining labor force participation by men age 65 to 69. Their participation declined from 43 percent in the late 1960s to around 25 percent in the mid-1980s to early 1990s, but rose to 34 percent by 2006.

The report attributes the earlier decline to the reduction in the youngest age of eligibility for Social Security benefits from 65 to 52 in the early 1960s and greater wealth that allowed older Americans to retire earlier.

Now, the upswing is partially explained by the elimination or mandatory retirement laws, liberalization of the Social Security earnings test (the reduction of benefits as earnings exceed specified amounts) and gradual increases in the delayed retirement credit for Social Security beneficiaries.

Other key findings in the report include:

• The number of people age 65 and over is expected to be twice as large in 2030 as in 2000, growing from 35 million to 71.5 million, representing an increase from just over 12 percent of the total population to nearly 20 percent.
• While net worth has increased almost 80 percent for older Americans over the past 20 years, major inequalities continue to exist with older blacks and people without high school diplomas. Media net worth for households headed by whites age 65 and older was six times that of older black households.
• Although Americans are healthier, their life expectancies lag behind those of many high-income countries, such as Canada, France, Sweden and Japan. For example, in 2003 Japanese women age 65 could expect to live, on average, 3.2 years longer than U.S. women, while Japanese men could expect to live 1.2 years longer.
• The number of Americans age 65 and over who are obese increased between 1988-1994 and 2005-2006 from 22 percent to 31 percent.
  Health care costs have risen dramatically.
• Nearly everybody now has out-of-pocket health care costs. Between 1992 and 2004, the percentage of health care costs going to prescription drugs almost doubled, from 8 percent to 15 percent.
• Nearly two-fifths (39 percent) of Americans age 75 and over have difficulty understanding basic health information and services.

And how do Americans age 55 and over spend their time when they’re not working, doing household chores or taking care of others? The study found that they spend more than half of their leisure time watching television.

The report was prepared by the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics with data from 15 federal agencies. It measures 38 critical indicators of older people’s lives in five areas: population, economics, health status, health risks and behaviors, and health care.